Moon Unit Zappa, the start of it all, turns 43

Think about it. Without Moon Unit Zappa, there'd be no song Valley Girl. With no song, there's no movie Valley Girl. There's no "that's totally tubular" or "gag me with a spoon." The "valley phenomenon" would have remained stuck in the Los Angeles suburbs, and the rest of us would still be saying "Freak Out!" or "Sit on it!"

In 1982, when Moon was just 14, she contributed the spoken words and lyrics to dad Frank Zappa's song Valley Girl, a tune originally meant to lampoon and ridicule the San Fernando Valley stereotype. Instead, the song had the opposite effect and became one of Zappa's biggest hits in the U.S. Its success inspired Hollywood to write a movie to capitalize on the phenomenon. Director Martha Coolidge was recruited to the project. She cast a then-barely known actor named Nicolas Cage as the star and a lovely young woman named Deborah Foreman to play the female lead. History was set in motion.

We owe Moon Unit a lot. Maybe buy a poster of her? At least send her happy wishes on her 43rd birthday today. (Actually she prefers to go by Moon Zappa these days. But it doesn't have the same ring, does it?) Check out her official website to see what the artist/writer/actress is up to these days.

About this blog

Relive the '80s music, movies and culture with Tampa Bay Times correspondent Steve Spears. A teen during the greatest decade ever, Steve is obsessed with everything from Duran Duran to Journey, John Hughes to John Cusack, and parachute pants to big hair.